Discover how California Northstate University College of Dental Medicine partners with Complete Anatomy and Osmosis to provide students with access to a virtual dissection lab and boost engagement in class.
The Program
California Northstate University (CNU) College of Dental Medicine welcomed its inaugural class in 2022, driven by a mission to enhance oral health in Northern California and beyond. The program was designed to implement a flipped classroom and hybrid learning environment, aligning with their humanistic education model. CNU’s focus on personalized learning and maintaining a high faculty-student ratio helps ensure individual student needs are met and there are ample opportunities for one-on-one interactions.
Challenge One
Providing students with access to an engaging, high-quality, and accurate 3D virtual dissection lab.
Recognizing the limitations and risks of in-person cadaver labs, CNU College of Dental Medicine sought innovative solutions to provide each student with a deep understanding of relevant human anatomy.
The Solution
CNU College of Dental Medicine integrated Complete Anatomy into their curriculum as a beneficial alternative to an in-person dissection lab. Complete Anatomy’s dissection lab not only ensured continuity in education for virtual and hybrid classrooms, but also provided a scalable and inclusive approach that could be integrated into the university’s long-term curriculum strategy, catering to diverse learning needs and circumstances.
The Result
Even as in-person labs became an option again, CNU College of Dental Medicine made the decision to continue their partnership with Complete Anatomy instead of switching to an in-person lab. Complete Anatomy was positively received by faculty and students and provided a unique opportunity for learning that in-person dissection labs could not. Traditional labs are not typically able to provide each student with one-on-one access to a cadaver.
CNU Course Director, Dr. Karisa Yamamoto, studied and taught in dissection labs, and is familiar with their limitations, “With only one cadaver per group of four to six students, there is usually one or two people who are really dissecting, and everyone else is kind of gathered around without access to that full, immersive experience.” Complete Anatomy supports CNU’s personalized learning goals by making sure “each student gets their own ‘cadaver’ that they can dissect on their own and personalize to their learning style,” shares Dr. Yamamoto.
"Each student gets their own ‘cadaver’ that they can dissect on their own and personalize to their learning style."
Karisa Yamamoto, DDS, Course Director and Assistant Professor
Challenge Two
Providing reliable flipped classroom resources to deepen student learning and make class time more effective.
As they planned out their curriculum, CNU College of Dental Medicine sought out engaging and reliable digital resources for pre-work. Their goal was to have class time dedicated to small group learning and case-based activities facilitated by faculty.
The Solution
To address the need for high-quality flipped classroom resources, Osmosis was integrated into the program’s anatomy and biomedical science course curricula as assigned pre-work. Osmosis was CNU College of Dental Medicine’s main resource when they first started out. “We were really drawn to Osmosis because of its ability to cater to different types of learners and different learning styles,” explains Dr. Yamamoto. “We felt that Osmosis was very comprehensive. It didn’t take a lot to get buy-in from students and faculty.”
The Result
On-demand, digestible Osmosis videos enable faculty to concentrate on application-based activities during class time and provide students with a resource that caters to a variety of learning preferences. Students are assigned two to four Osmosis videos as pre-work, before attending class to quiz their learning and dive deeper into the assigned subjects.
Linked assessment items on the platform also provided students with a way to check and cement their learning on their own time. “Students like the formative assessments – the quizzes, flashcards, and the study guides,” shares Dr. Yamamoto. To many students, Osmosis is “a lot more fun and engaging than reading a textbook.”
"We get really positive evaluations during their end of course evaluations on both Osmosis and Complete Anatomy. It’s a really helpful tool for them."
